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***All sincere efforts to complete the tasks and answer the questions will be accepted.
Welcome to SAM's Network of Stewardship Earth Cache's. By establishing this Network, SAM hopes to encourage Cachers to visit local conservation areas in NL, to appreciate why the area is being conserved and to learn more about why the area is being protected.
Who is SAM?
The Stewardship Association of Municipalities Inc (known affectionately as “SAM”) is an incorporated, non-profit organization. SAM works with the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture in NL to secure, enhance, & restore important wildlife habitat (wetlands, uplands, coastal areas, & species at risk habitat) within municipal planning boundaries by encouraging municipalities to seek a balance between development and conservation. As a network of communities who practice environmental stewardship across NL, SAM contributes to maintaining & enhancing biodiversity in the province.
The Gambo Stewardship Zone overlays the entire municipal boundary to incorporate all wetland and waterfowl habitat, including the islands in Freshwater Bay, that support or could potentially support nesting waterbirds within and surrounding the town. Gambo has a variety of wetlands which waterfowl use, including bogs, brooks, ponds and shallow areas in the bay. They provide important nesting and staging areas on which waterfowl depend. Significant numbers of Canada geese stop to feed on the rich beds of eel grass during the spring and some nest on Gambo Bog. Brant geese use Gambo Bog as a stopover feeding site during their migration to arctic breeding grounds, and are considered a rare species for the island of Newfoundland. The Town is also home to many other avian species including bald eagles, common terns, various gull species and double-crested cormorants.
Joey's Lookout, named for the province's "Father of Confederation", former Premier Joseph R. Smallwood, provides a picturesque view of the town and the surrounding area, including Gambo's Management Units within Freshwater Bay. These management units are the Gambo Bog Management Unit, the Gambo Brook Estuary Management Unit, the Middle Brook Estuary and Marsh Point Management Unit, the Traverse Brook Estuary Management Unit, and the Black Duck Pond Management Unit.
Gambo's SAM Member Page
Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are partially enclosed bodies of brackish water (mixture of freshwater and saltwater) usually found where a river meets the sea forming a transition zone between them. They usually have one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries are home to unique plant and animal communities that have adapted to the brackish water.
There are four different kinds of estuaries, each created a different way:
- Coastal plain estuaries: created when glaciers recede, and sea levels rise to fill in an existing river valley
- Tectonic estuaries: created by the shifting together and rifting apart of the Earth's crust
- Bar-built estuaries: protected from the ocean by a sandbar, delta or barrier island
- Fjord estuaries: created by glaciers - glaciers carve out a deep, steep valley, then they retreat and the ocean rushes into fill the narrow, deep depression
Credit: Amit Sengupta (Youtube)
Newfoundland and Labrador's landscape with a remarkable geological history, formed over many millions of years by continental collision, mountain-building, volcanoes, oceans, rivers and ice sheets. Glaciers had an enormous effect on the landscape, smoothing and polishing wide areas, eroding lake basins, and carving deep valleys through mountains. Along the coast, these valleys were later flooded by the sea, creating deep fjords. Sea level around the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador changed considerably as a result of the last glaciation. As the glaciers on the island of Newfoundland receded, indicators of rising sea levels emerged around the coast: submerged shorelines, inland migration of beaches, formation of estuaries and drowned forests.
Please answer the following questions to log this Earth Cache:
- In accordance with the updated guidelines from Geocaching HQ (June 2019), photos are now an acceptable logging requirement and will be required to log this cache. Please share a photo of yourself, your GPS, or a personal item as proof of visit to the site.
- When did the Town of Gambo and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador sign their MUNICIPAL HABITAT STEWARDSHIP AGREEMENT?
- What type of estuaries are likely found within Freshwater Bay?